Just who had written those characters, and how had they managed to hurt him so badly? The only explanation was that this was the work of some terrifying powerhouse, and there had to be more to the characters than met the eye.

Lu Yin wiped the blood staining his face away. At some point, his forehead had become covered in sweat. He looked at his cosmic ring fearfully and decided that he would not touch the carved hide until he was at least as powerful as a Limiteer, or at least until he was in some desperate need.

His gadget beeped, informing him that he had received a new notification. Lu Yin looked down and was surprised to see that he recognized the name of his new challenger. Hart Phoenix? What a familiar name. Lu Yin’s eyes sparkled in anticipation as he recalled this person. Wasn’t he the Sentinel from the ported battle? He remembered that this person had an innate gift and was quite strong. How did he know to contact him? Had he discovered that Lu Yin was ‘Seventh Brother?’

Lu Yin wasted no time and quickly rushed back to the Sand Ocean.

At this time, back at Astral-10’s space station, Big Pao and Little Pao were staring at the man before them in utter shock. This person was actually from the Phoenix Family of the Innerverse. They had heard of Hart Phoenix before, and he was definitely one of the elite students of Astral-5. When he had just been a Sentinel, he had already been able to defeat Melders, though if that was the extent of his abilities, the two would not have had such a reaction. What shocked and scared the two Astral-10 seniors the most was Hart’s older brother, Serati Phoenix; that guy was an absolute monster.

“Sand Ocean, the place that was once known as Astral-10’s battle force sacred land, is no longer what it once was. Is that where Lu Yin is?” Hart asked coldly.

Big Pao coughed once to dispel his shock before replying, “Yes.”

Hart’s eyes twinkled as he stepped into the teleportation device.

The desert was hot and dry. For many, this wasn’t a pleasant sensation, but for Hart, it suited him perfectly since all his techniques contained heat and flames.

Lu Yin had arrived a bit before Hart, and he had already erected a signboard that displayed the rules for the duel in a very conspicuous location near the teleportation device. Lu Yin was excited for the upcoming duel since their last fight had been closely matched. How far had Lu Yin come since then, and was it possible for him to win with an instant K.O.?

Hart stepped out of the teleportation device and immediately noticed the signboard. With a condescending expression, he looked over towards Lu Yin in the distance and threw a bank card onto the sand. His entire demeanor oozed arrogance. “Money? I have no lack of it, but let’s see if you have the ability to take it.”

Lu Yin raised an eyebrow. This guy is way more arrogant than Craynor. He even used his real name in the ported battles. Lu Yin liked messing around with incredibly proud people, but unfortunately, Hart wasn’t as impulsive as Craynor was. If he was, then all the money in his cosmic ring would have soon belonged to Lu Yin, which would have been perfect. “You’re here for Xi Yue?”

Hart gazed at Lu Yin coldly. “You have no right to say her name. She’s my fiancée, and if you touch her, then it means that you’ve touched the Phoenix clan. Are you prepared to face the wrath of my clan?”

Lu Yin froze. That- that was so cool!

“How old are you?” Lu Yin couldn’t help himself from asking.

Hart’s eyes glinted icily as he charged at Lu Yin. “Cut the crap.” Golden flames erupted from his body and rose into the sky, forming a flaming bird that crowed so loudly the entire desert trembled.

Deep within the desert, the Sandmaster was astonished. “There’s someone from the Immortal Bird family here? Things are starting to get lively.”

Lu Yin saw a golden bird of flames cover the sky. Back in the ported battle, he had confronted the attack with his Cosmic palm, but this time, he merely raised a hand. “Nine Stacks Ninefold Shockwave Palm.”

Crash!

Golden flames swirled and exploded in all directions, blurring the sky and scorching the desert surface black. Lu Yin had torn the golden firebird apart in a single attack and followed his move up by landing directly above Hart, no more than a millimeter away from his head. Vicious shockwaves pushed the sand beneath Hart’s feet away, digging out a conical pit that he fell into. Hart himself didn’t move, but his eyes betrayed his endless shock.

“Mr. Hart!”

“Mr. Hart!”

…

The students who had accompanied Hart to Astral-10 yelled his name in shock while standing at the teleportation device. They all heaved huge sighs of relief when they saw that Hart hadn’t been injured. However, they looked at Lu Yin with shock in their eyes. They couldn’t believe that there was a person this strong in Astral-10. In the entirety of Astral-5, there were less than ten Melders who were strong enough to crush Hart like that—in fact, Hart’s abilities allowed him to proudly stand besides the top ten Melders in their academy.

Lu Yin’s lips curled up as he retracted his arm and looked over towards the teleportation device. “Give me the card.”

A Melder student inside the device hurried over, picked up the card, and then respectfully handed it over to Lu Yin. Regardless of if it was the Tenth or Astral-5, strength was paramount.

Hart’s eyes followed Lu Yin shakily. Only at this time did his face begin to pale. He had been defeated before he could even react. He then carefully asked, “Have we fought before?”

Lu Yin stored the card away. “Perhaps. I don’t remember anymore.”

Hart clenched his fists in shame. He had been completely dominated; this was too disgraceful. He thought to himself, No one from the Phoenix clan should ever be crushed this thoroughly before saying, “I’ll be back.” After that, Hart headed deep into the desert. He wanted to break through and become a Melder. That was the only way for him to have a chance of defeating Lu Yin.

Several of the students rushed over to protect Hart.

Lu Yin burst into laughter. This guy really doesn’t hold back at all.

Elsewhere in Astral-10, at this same time, another spacecraft landed at the academy’s space station. This spacecraft had the Ninth Academy’s symbol etched on its hull.

Little Pao was astonished. Even someone from the Ninth Academy had come?

The door opened, and Bonny walked out. He was dressed completely in black and there was a black phoenix embroidered onto the back of his coat.

Little Pao grew slightly puzzled at this seeing this member of the Dark Phoenix clan. This would complicate the situation. Someone from the Phoenix clan was already here, and a person from the Dark Phoenix clan had just arrived. Disciples of the rival clans immortal bird and the fallen immortal bird were about to meet; things were about to get interesting.

Bonny looked at the wall with shining eyes before directly heading to the teleportation device and traveling to the Sand Ocean without saying a word. Little Pao hurriedly followed behind.

Lu Yin was still in the desert, examining his cosmic ring. He currently had the equivalent of 150,000 cubes of star crystals in just Mavis Bank cards, which was a considerable sum. With the additional 20,000 cubes that he physically had in his ring, he felt pretty wealthy.

But then, deep in the desert, great golden flames filled the sky and cast a brilliant shadow over the desert.

Lu Yin was rather excited. Hart had been one of the few Sentinels who could threaten Lu Yin. Now that he had advanced and become a Melder, Lu Yin expected his power spike to be huge. Could Hart match up to Craynor? While Craynor was very talented, that was it. It was honestly somewhat surprising that Craynor ranked second on the Blaze Realm Rankings.

As the golden flames streaked through the desert, the star energy in the Sand Ocean trembled. A cry from an immortal bird caused Lu Yin’s heart to skip a beat. He could feel an invisible pressure pressing down on him.

Suddenly, a figure flew into the sky to look into the distance. “It’s Phoenix! There’s someone from that shameless clan!” Black flames roared into the sky as if responding to the golden flames before the figure disappeared.

Lu Yin was surprised. What’s going on?

Little Pao was standing by the teleportation device’s entrance, and his eyes shimmered when he saw this. Things were really about to get going now.

Deep within the desert, the Sandmaster was caught off guard. “The Dark Phoenix clan? What a coincidence.”

Elsewhere in the desert, where Hart was trying to break through, Hart widened his eyes and looked into the distance with a furious expression. “It’s someone from that clan of traitors! Quick, get him!”

“Yes, sir!” a few students from Astral-5 responded before rushing out.

It didn’t take long for battle fluctuations to spread out across the desert. Black flames raged and radiated an intense heat. Yet, oddly enough, when one tried to sense the black flames, they would feel an incredibly cold and corrosive energy that could eat through star energy. Although the students from Astral-5 were powerful, Bonny could hold his own against them by himself. He was a genius of the Dark Phoenix clan and naturally comparable to the geniuses from the Phoenix clan.

Lu Yin looked up from the sand. Numerous battle techniques of all sorts were clashing in the sky every second, leaving him in awe. Bonny’s black immortal bird was quite amazing to Lu Yin. What an amazing innate gift!

Off in the distance, the golden flames had reached a peak, and their heat had grown to a terrifying level. Hart had only just broken through, but he could already stand up to the black flames unaided. This boosted the morale of Astral-5 students, and they continued fighting.

“Tsk, there’s so many years of grudges hidden deep within their bones. They’re fighting to the death even before they’ve actually met each other. How lively,” Little Pao said in surprise.

Lu Yin was confused and asked, “Who is that?”

“He’s from the Dark Phoenix clan, the fallen immortal bird. The kid who you fought earlier is called Hart Phoenix and is from the Innerverse’s Phoenix clan, which is also known as the golden immortal bird. These two families used to be one, but they split at some point in time and have been opposing each other ever since. Once any of them meet, there’s sure to be a bloodbath,” Little Pao explained.

Lu Yin nodded. “No wonder they’re so similar.”

“Unfortunately, the Dark Phoenix clan hasn’t been able to win against the Phoenix clan. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have been chased out into the Endless Weave. Bonny is a student from the Ninth Academy, and he should have originally come here to check out his rival academy. But out of sheer luck, this happened. Haha,” Little Pao said, obviously enjoying the situation.

Lu Yin burst into laughter as well. The Ninth and Tenth Academies that stood next to each other were naturally enemies. Hart Phoenix had terrible timing, although that was good news for Astral-10 because his men would be preoccupied with fighting against Bonny instead of Lu Yin.

Before too long, all of the students from Astral-5 were defeated.

“Get your ass out here, Phoenix!” Bonny yelled provokingly.

The golden flames in the distance condensed and contracted before morphing into a terrifying immortal bird that soared through the sky, its flames warping the very air. Hart had become a Melder and was right away able to display an impressive strength that far exceeded Schutz’s and possibly even Craynor’s. This was quite shocking to Lu Yin. How could an innate gift be this powerful?

Hart stood tall within the golden immortal bird’s flames as it flapped its wings. He cast a look of disdain towards Bonny. “Where did you gain the confidence to bare your teeth at your master?”

Rage burned in Bonny’s eyes and he nearly lost his composure. “You Phoenixes are the slimiest and most despicable family. You should all just go and die!” Then, the black immortal bird looked up, released a cry, and charged straight at Hart.

Hart snickered as he replied, “You possess nothing more than a fallen bloodline. A slave will always be a slave.” The golden immortal bird rushed forward as well.

These two enormous immortal birds, one black and one gold, clashed high above the desert in an ear splitting crash. The air was burnt away and the heat distortions nearly caused the sky to collapse. Yellow wind swirled in from the surrounding desert, covering the earth and sky as it melted into the gold and black flames.

Astral-5 students quickly hid after recovering from their initial shock.

Lu Yin also moved slightly behind Little Pao, leaving the senior student stunned. “Junior, you’re not cute at all.” As Little Pao spoke, he lifted a hand and formed an invisible shield from his star energy that protected the two of them.

This was a fight between two immortal birds and even the errant shockwaves could reduce an ordinary Melder to ashes, but Little Pao was able to protect them with a casual lifting of his hand. Lu Yin was a bit surprised to see this. After all, Big Pao and Little Pao were the only students left after Astral-10 had been chased out of the Innerverse. There were rumors that these two students hadn’t left because they were so weak that no academy wanted them, but Lu Yin didn’t believe this nonsense. Rather, he suspected that these two were hiding a great deal of surprises.